Part 5
watch with brave hearts and open eyes, and see the plain truth, without any distinctions in thought, words, works, and deeds, in all actions, in virtuous deeds, in patient suffering; and examine yourselves both outwardly and inwardly.
Children, you know not in what danger you stand, on account of your natural weakness, your terribly wicked sins, and on account of the great and unsurpassable good that we might receive clear Divine Eyes search us through and through; while man, so full of impurity, stands before Him, and all that is not purified of what is not of God in truth, is spread out before the Face of God.
How deeply we shall feel our shame! and how surely all will be judged! It is written: "And if the just man shall scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" St Augustine says: "Woe be to all in unrighteousness, if God will not judge them according to mercy." Therefore, if you could only know in what danger all stand, who desire something else than God, your human minds would be unable to bear it. The holy Job said: "How long will you not spare me, nor suffer me to swallow down my spittle? I have sinned; what shall I do to You, O Keeper of men? why have you set me opposite to You?"
Then in the Gospel we read: "Watch therefore; let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands, and you yourselves like men who wait for their Lord, when he shall return from the wedding." You have heard of this watching.
Now you must notice three points here. First, your loins must be girded and bound round as with a cord, so that you can be drawn and guided against your will, like a horse which is bridled, and can be held up when about to fall. The loins are sensual pleasures, which must be bound, and tamed, and girded up, and never allowed their liberty. The second point is, that you must have burning torches in your hands; that is, the sweet reality of true, fervent love, both within and without. You must, as far as possible, never let it pass out of your hands; and you must especially meditate on it, one with another, according to your power. The third point is, that you must wait for your Lord till He comes from the wedding.
"Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching." He will set them over all His goods, and gird Himself and serve them.
This marriage, from which the Lord comes, is in the very innermost parts of the soul, where the Image of God is. The nearness of the soul to God, and of God to the soul, the wonderful works God does there, and the joy and delight which God does there, are beyond all reason and understanding; although man himself knows nothing and feels nothing thereof. But the men, in whom God thus rejoices, and with whom He thus unites Himself, are the men who have turned with all their hearts and all their desires to God, away from the world and all creatures, and who ever desire to live only to Him. But He will have nothing to do with the men who devote themselves with all their hearts to their own concerns, whether living or dead.
Now, if the Lord tarries too long, these men who are waiting are seen by the Enemy, and he comes and suggests some desire to them, either from without or from within, so that they may rest therein. Give no heed to him; remain on your guard. Blessed are those servants who wait, for they know not when the Lord will come, whether it will be in the first, the second or the third watch of the night. Then He will wait on them, and serve them, and allow them to be conscious of a foretaste of the hidden Union; and thus He will strengthen them that waiting may not be too hard for them. He gives them, in what they experience, the sweetness of His Love, that their love may be strengthened thereby. Now St Gregory takes up the words of the Psalter and says: "I have gone far away in flight; and I abode in the wilderness." When the inner man has thus waited and waited, he must go away, fly from all things, and remain in solitude. This solitude if formed not only by a man giving up all the external distractions of his outward faculties, but also the inner distractions of his inner powers. These are the powers of imagination, in pictures and phantasies, and in thoughts, so that man turns away from all forms and fancies, and dwells in solitude; and, when he has overcome this affliction and has endured, then the Lord, for Whom he has been waiting, comes in a moment, and with one glance exalts him above all things, and delights him after his long waiting. Then He strikes him down again, and
oppresses him, that he may not be overmuch exalted by his experience.
Jeremiah, the prophet, says of such an one: "I sat not in the assembly of jesters, nor did I make a boast of the Presence of Your Hand; I sat alone, because you have filled me with threats;" as though he had been threatened with both fists.
The first fist, with which he is threatened, is a darkness which comes over him from within, while he is led by a dark and miserable road. He knows nothing, and he has nothing, and he is attached, besides, by all kinds of misfortunes, sins and temptations; by pride, uncleanness, unbelief and many other temptations, of which he thought he had long been freed, and which he imagines he had overcome; they threaten him and cause him great fear. The other fist which threatens him is, that God holds up His terrible judgements before him, so that the man feels that his only rightful place is in the lowest depths of hell. There two fists keep him down wonderfully, and God desires by all these threatenings to root out the evil, poisonous growth of pride. All desires are more quickly extinguished in those who rightly understand these fists, than they could be by much external discipline lasting for many years.
Now, when man goes in with the prophet, and wishes to dwell with him, and he finds that all storms, thoughts, imaginations and figures are stilled within him, then God and the holy Angels come, and suddenly, in a moment, real love is given to him, so that he perceives something that he is to do for Holy Christendom, or for the dead or the living; it flashes upon him in an instant. Then the Enemy also comes, and looks about to see whether he also can find his own here. He makes an attack, and, adding thereto suffering and thoughts, casts them before the man. But he must not heed them, he must let them pass by him; for if he does not love nor desire them, the Enemy will have to go his own way, ashamed and empty-handed, and the man will be greatly furthered by this attack.
In some lands men may be found who cultivate false poverty, lay aside all work, and protect themselves from all good thoughts, saying they have attained to peace; they will not exercise themselves in deeds of virtue, for they say they have got beyond them. These men have a devil by their side
who hinders all that can destroy their peace, either from without or from within, either in thought or in other ways of that kind, that they may remain at peace, so that hereafter he may take them with him into the eternal dissensions of his hell; and, for this he preserves them in their false peace. The righteous do not take this false method, but exercise themselves both outwardly and inwardly, and endure in all the ways by which the Lord leads them, which He predestined, and in darkness; and they do not presume that they have attained to peace. They are not disquieted, because they walk in a narrow path, between peace and disquiet, between hope and unrighteous fear, between safety and doubt. And, when true peace, liberty of mind and safety, reveal themselves to them, they at once cast them down to the ground, and do not cling to them. Men who desire to walk in this narrow path must see above all things that they plant their feet firmly in the Footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ; the firmer they stand therein, the purer will they become. Then these threatening fists are transformed into good and loving hands; our Lord receives them tenderly in His Fatherly Arms, and leads them up far above all things. Then all natural things fall away from them, and only those things trouble them which are not of God. And now the Lord shows them the dark, difficult ways, and the narrow paths over which they have come; none can harm them any more, and they rejoice over all their sufferings.
This is spoken, in truth, against those free spirits who glory in their false liberty, and who, in false poverty boast of their false peace, taking their stand on their own works and ways of forty years and more, and on the great deeds that they have done. Such men will not walk in the narrow path. In a great community there may be scarcely one or two men who desire to walk in this way. All the others who are there hem them in and attack them, and cause them trouble; and then, when they act wrongly, they speak hardly to them and say: "you must suffer for it!" but if a severe answer or unkind words escape you, come to yourself at once, and acknowledge your transgression and be sorry for your sin. Be silent, endure, and accept all as from God, that you may learn to know yourself thereby. If you hadst shown more patience, you might have attained to a noble mind. Therefore humble yourself and go forwards. All will be prepared for you, whether crooked or straight; all will be for your good, if
only you will realise it and be valiant. Therefore, he who thus waits on the Lord with watchful eyes, as St Augustine did, him will the Lord serve, and to him will He impart perfect joy, as He did to St Augustine. May God help us thereto. Amen.
SERMON XIX; On the Nativity of Our Lady
How the strange birth of temporal things, such as delight in the creature, hinders the Divine Birth in man; and how, if God is to be born in us, the clinging to old, evil habits must be broken off.
"Come over to me, all you that desire me, and be filled with my fruits."
To-day we celebrate the nuptial day on which the Holy Virgin, spotless, pure and holy, was born of her mother. That which was lost in Paradise was brought back again by her, that noble likeness which the Father had fashioned like Himself, and which had been spoiled. Through her the Father regenerated all His members, that they might be brought back again to their original Source; and of His unfathomable mercy God desired to raise us up again, through her, from the eternal death into which we had fallen, in as far as it was possible for us. Now we read these words of her in the Book of Wisdom: "Come over to me, all you that desire me, that you may be filled with my fruits." These are the words of the Heavenly Father Who guides and entices us to this birth. These words also were spoken by God, the Eternal Wisdom, of the Virgin; for this birth is also her birth. That which the Heavenly Father brought forth throughout eternity, she also brought forth; and this teaches us that we must and shall be filled to overflowing with this birth. She said: "To all those who desire to be satisfied in me, to all those who, in truth, desire and are satisfied by this birth, to them a glimpse will be given, sometimes, so that their longing may be excited and drawn forth to desire more and more." Say with St Augustine: "Lord, you have made us for Yourself, and therefore our hearts are always restless till we find rest in You." This restlessness, which should always and unceasingly be ours, is delayed and hindered by the strange births that are born of man. These are temporal, transitory, sensual, harmful things; delight and satisfaction in the creature, whether animate or inanimate; friendship and society;
clothes, food, and all the things in which man delights. These things create restlessness in you; and they beget such births in you, so that God, as long as these births find place in you with your knowledge and consent, can never bring forth His birth in you, in the joyful possession of your heart. Some trifle, however small and mean it may be, takes from you and robs you of your greatest good, and of the blissful birth that God desires to bring forth in you; and it also takes away from you all desire for it, and the consolation that you ought to have after this birth; all this is kept back by this thing of pleasure.
Now men often complain and say: "I have neither love nor desire;" that is just the hindrance which prevents you and keeps you back from love and desire, whatever it may be; no one knows so well as thou. Ask not me, but ask yourself, why you have no love or desire. You desire to posses both God and the creature; but that is impossible. Delight in God and delight in the creature cannot exist side by side. By this, I do not mean things which are necessary for man, and of which we cannot deprive nature, such as a hungry longing for food, and a thirsty craving for drink, the longing of the weary for rest and quiet, of the sleepy for sleep - as long as they do not become inordinate desires. But when man gives way to them, not for the needs or uses of nature, but for the pleasure of gratification, this birth is hindered; though less than in the enjoyment of other things; for the needs of nature require that pleasure in these things shall not be separated from them, as long as nature is at work.
But the man who does not wish to hinder the Eternal Birth, but would make an entrance for it by means of the desire, must remember that the pleasures of the senses in nature, and in the creature, are hindrances; for the less of them, the more of the other; for the more cold goes out, the more warmth will come in; neither must man remain in his chamber idle and careless, and in gloomy weakness. Some men go about blindly, and all that they do is done blindly and foolishly in unfruitfulness. Your confessor has no power over all these infirmities, which possess and deprave you, if you are willing to give way to them; though you were to confess ten times a day, it would not help you at all, unless you were ready to give up your sins. you must also know that, if you are found thus wantonly possessed, loving the creature more than you love God, you will
never appear before the Face of God. This is said everywhere in Scripture, and in all parts of the Gospel. There is the command in the Old and New Testaments, that man should love God above all things. And again: "He who does not renounce all that he possesses" is not worthy of Me. Again, elsewhere; "Not every one that says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven: but he who does the Will of my Father Who is in heaven, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."
Do you imagine that God would give the Kingdom of Heaven to unholy beings, and that He shed His Precious Blood and gave up His Life for them? Look to yourselves; do not imagine that He would allow this to come to pass; and, if you knew how severely God will judge them, you would wither away in terror. God has given all things that they may be the way to Him; He only will be the Goal; nothing else can be, neither this nor that.
Do you imagine that I say this in derision? No, indeed! Your Order can neither make you holy nor blessed. My cowl, my tonsure, my cloister, my holy community - none of these things can make me holy. If I am to become holy, it must be in a holy, poor, uninhabited place. If I often cry: "Lord! Lord!" if I pray often, read much, say many beautiful things, understand much, and appear good? - no, no, it is something quite different that is needed. If you deceive yourself, it will hurt you, not me.
Your worldly hearts and minds, your vanity in the appearance of spirituality - all these things in you will be tested, just as when a bud is set in a stock, all the fruit which the stock will bear will be like the bud and not after its own kind. Therefore all these strange external births with which you are possessed, and all your fruit, will be tested by the bud. Also all your good works which ought to be divine, will be of the creature and nothing worth, because of the evil ground out of which they spring; for this birth takes place in all your powers, both within and without. Job said of this: "In the horror of a vision by night ...fear seized upon me and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted; and when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up." The horror of the vision in the night was the dark possession, which followed the incomprehensible horror and fearful trembling, so that all his bones
were affrighted. The Spirit passing before him was God passing before him.
Now the Gospel speaks here of two processions. One procession is that of the Spirit, that is of God to us; and the other procession is of ourselves to God; this must have an exit, as you have heard, and as the Schoolmen say: "Two forms cannot exist together; if fire is kindled, the wood will be consumed; if the tree grows, the germ will disappear." If God is to enter into us, by the fulfilment of His Birth, then the creature will cease to exist. St Gregory says of this, that the hair of his head stood up when the Spirit passed before him, - these are the Levites whose hair must be cut off. They grow in the flesh like hair; and so also the tendency to old habits clings to the highest and lowest powers; they must be cut off with the sharp shears of holy diligence, which must be whetted and sharpened on the mighty and terrible judgements of God, and on the speedy justice of God, who will not leave the least thought unjudged. Even the least imagination, willingly received, must be cast off in the insufferable fires of purgatory, before man can appear before God. Now, when these evil, unclean hairs have been cut off with sharp shears, then the hair grows again, and man must show renewed diligence. Some men are so diligent that, as soon as they are conscious of a thought, they cut it off at once with stern decision. At first it is rather hard to be always examining oneself; but afterwards, when man has accustomed himself thereto, it becomes quite easy; and he can blow away that for which at first he needed stern determination.
Man must also be filled with active love, which must be universal; for he must not think particularly of this or that person, but of all men; not only of the good, but also of the common poor. Our Lady's father and mother, Joachim and Anne, were such good people. They divided all their goods into three parts. One part was for the service of God and for the Temple; another was for the common poor; and they lives on the third part themselves. Wherever parsimony exists, an unclean spot will be found which is very evil; man should be generous with these contemptible, transitory things. To him who gives will be given, and he who forgives will also be forgiven. The measure you give will be the measure you get back.
Now, some men cleave to things within, on which also there is an evil growth which they do not perceive; and thus it might even come to pass that they might never come before God; and yet these men may have lived sincerely before God, and have given themselves up to severe discipline. But this is usually hidden in the lowest depths of their hearts; and they have not known it themselves, because they were wanting in self-control. Therefore it would be as well for such men, who wish to live to the truth, to have a Friend of God, to whom they could submit themselves, and who would direct them according to the Spirit of God; for, without some personal intercourse, it is not possible to prove the men who have these inner tendencies. Such men ought to seek an experienced Friend of God, even twenty miles round, who would know the right way and guide them aright. And, if no especially suitable man were to be found, then an ordinary confessor would do; for the Holy Spirit often speaks through such an one, on account of his office; though he be ever so rough, and is neither conscious of it, nor understands it himself; still men should submit themselves to him, and be in subjection, and not be their own guides.
We have a perfect picture of this in the Blessed Virgin Mary. When she was a child, she was obedient to her father and mother; later she was under the care of the priest in the Temple; later she was under the care of St Joseph, later under that of our Lord Jesus Christ; later under that of St John, to whose care she was committed by our Lord, and who was to take His place. Now we pray earnestly that she will take us under her own care; and, as she was born on this day, so also she will bear us again in the true Source. Amen.
SERMON XX; On the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The first Sermon
On the health-giving Cross, which is Christ Himself in His Humanity; how He must be exalted and raised up in us; and how all our powers must be drawn up after Him; the lowest and the highest, although, alas, this is neglected by many men. Also, many wise exhortations and
incitements to members of Religious Orders to receive the Holy Sacrament, and to keep their other rules. How the crucified Christ must be born in us and of us through the three powers of the soul; and how we again must be born in Him, in the Fruit of His Spirit.
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself."
To-day we celebrate the Festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, on which hung, out of love, the Salvation of the World. We must be born again, through the Cross, into the true nobility which was ours in eternity. We must be born and revived there again by love for this Cross. Words cannot describe the merits of the Cross. Our Lord said: "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Me." By this He signifies that He wishes to draw to Himself our worldly hearts, and our love for and gratification in worldly things, which we had gladly possessed in the creature, and our haughty minds, which were well satisfied with ourselves, and with our worldly-mindedness and love, in the temporal gratification of our senses. All this He will draw to Himself, that He may be thus exalted, and that He may become great in us and in our hearts; for to the man to whom God has ever been great, all creatures seem small, and fleeting pleasures are as nothing.
This health-giving Cross signifies the Noble Man, Christ, Who is exalted far above our imagination, above Saints and Angels, and above all the joy, bliss and blessedness that they enjoy together; and, as His true place is in the Highest, He desires to dwell also in our highest places, that is in our uppermost and innermost love and desires. He will draw up the lowest powers to the highest, and lead the lowest with the highest to Himself. If we do this, He will draw us after Himself into His highest and most secret place. For thus it must needs be; if I am to come to Him, I must receive Him into myself. So much of mine, so much of His; it is an equal bargain.
Oh! how often this Holy Cross is quite forgotten, so that this ground and secret place is quite closed up and refused to God, while favour and love are shown to the creature; which, sad to say, in these dangerous times, reigns supreme both in worldly and religious people, so that their hearts are lost in the creature. This is the most grievous pity that man's heart
and mind can conceive; and, if he only knew how it would end, he would wither up in terror of the vengeance of God. But it is as much unheeded as though it were all mockery. It has, also, become the custom, and men approve of it, and call it an honour, and it is all as though it were a play. The Saints, if they could, would cry aloud and weep tears of blood, and the Wounds of our Lord would be torn open again by this misery; that a heart, for which He gave His beautiful Life and His loving Holy Spirit, should be so shamelessly taken from Him, while He is driven forth. Children, do not thing that these are my words only; all Scripture teaches you this: "No man can serve two masters. For he will hate the one and love the other." Jesus says: "If your eye offend you, pluck it out and cast it from you;" and elsewhere: "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also." Now, find out how much God has of your heart; whether He is your Treasure. St Augustine says: "If you love you the earth, you are also of the earth; for the soul is more with what she loves, than where she gives life to the body." St Paul says: "If I should deliver my body to be burned, and should speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, and should give all my goods to feed the poor, and yet not have charity, it profits me nothing."
Now, dear sisters, you ought, with great and adoring thankfulness and active love, to accept the grace which God has given to your Order through the Sacrament of the Body of the Lord. I desire, also, with all my heart and soul, that this practice should not be allowed to grow slack nor fall asleep in these anxious times; for nature will not long endure; you must cleave firmly to God, or you will fall away. Mark, it was not thus in days gone by; therefore, these people ought to exercise great and powerful self-restraint, that they may be preserved from this dangerous state. Do not imaging that this need be done to attain to a state of great perfection: "They that are in health need not a physician, but those who are ill." It is necessary, on account of man's human weakness, that he should be protected by God's help, and preserved from the sad state of things which prevails widely amongst religious people. Therefore, none should speak as though they had attained to great perfection or did great deeds. It is sufficient, if they keep the rules of their Order, as far as they can, and mean to do so, and that they have permission to leave undone what they cannot do. No great powers of reason are necessary for this. It
will suffice, if they desire to do willingly what is right, and if their eyes are so far opened that they will be able to guard themselves against this grievous wrong, and if they keep their eyes open. For this reason, our young sisters should go often and willingly to receive the Lord's Body. I excuse and also answer for our dear elder sisters, for they went very reverently in days gone by, when the flesh was not so weak as now; and they kept their Order very strictly, and loved and obeyed the rules. They also readily kept up the good old custom of communicating every fortnight. Their great sanctity and perfection were sufficient; for in those days things were better than now, and less harmful to the fallen nature to be found in young people, whose inclinations are stronger now than they were then. Therefore much more help is needed now than then; and without great self-restraint it is impossible to endure in the highest state. Now everything sinks down to the level of animal pleasures, and the desires of the senses. Therefore, dear sisters, I require of you no great perfection and sanctity, only that you should feel joy in and love for our Holy Order, and that you should intend to keep the rules as far as you can, and that you should willingly keep silence in all places where it is ordained - at table and in the choir, and that you should withdraw yourselves willingly from all human intimacies that estrange you from God. The old are impelled to do so by holiness, and the young by modesty. For if you do this devoutly, God will reveal Himself to you, while you flee from all the causes that could bring this hurt to your souls. Learn, that intolerable sufferings have fallen upon some convents; and, if they had not exercised themselves very diligently in this discipline, they might have been brought to nought. If you experience no sweetness, do not let this terrify you. If man does his part, and yet feels forsaken in his heart, it is far better for him, that any feelings or experiences would be that he could have. This bitter grief brings him nearer to the Source of Living Truth than any feelings. Our Lord said: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?" and on Mount Olivet: "Not as I will, but as you wilt."
Children, fear not, for our Lord says: "If any man will come after Me....let him take up his Cross and follow Me." This Cross signifies the crucified Jesus, Who ought to be and must be born. St Paul says: "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with all its lusts." These lusts must be tamed and restrained.
The second power is the power of anger, which man should be able to control in all things. He should always think that another is more likely to be right than he, and thus avoid strife. He must learn forbearance, and how to be quiet and kindly wherever he may be. One man may be sitting alone, or in an assembly, while others are sitting there, who are noisy and seldom silent. You must learn to be forbearing and to endure, and to commune with your own hearts. A man cannot work at a trade without having learnt it. If any one wanted to be an umbrella-maker, and would not learn his trade, he might do great harm to the work if he tried to carry it on before he had learned it; thus it is in all adversities, we must learn how to struggle.
The two other powers, by which this noble Cross must be borne, are not so evident; they are the powers of reason, and of inwardly spiritual desires. Thus, in short, Christ must be born in us and of us, in the inner and outer man; and thus we shall be born again in Him, in the Fruit of His Spirit. As it is written: "You must be as new-born babes." Dear children, if you live thus, every day will be consecrated; and all your sins will be forgiven you in this birth of the Holy Cross. Amen.
SERMON XXI; On the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The Second Sermon
How Christ draws all things to Himself; how He prepares man according to his powers, both outwardly and inwardly, by many changes and chances, that he may come at last with his whole heart to the secret place of the Divine Abyss; and how some men scarcely succeed in understanding how they an follow this drawing.
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself."
To-day we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, whose worth it is impossible to describe, and to which all the honour that we can conceive is due, because we give it to Him, Who died thereon. Therefore religious people take up the Cross, and begin to fast according to their rule; and
this is a thing worth doing by all who have it in their power.
Now, we are told how a Christian king once took the Holy Cross to a Pagan king, with all the honour and dignity that his dominions could produce, in accordance with his rank, though not in accordance with the honour due to the Holy Cross; and he wanted to go to Jerusalem. When he arrived before the gates, they closed themselves by means of a strong, thick wall; and an Angel, who was standing on the wall, said: "you come here with the Cross, riding in great pomp; and yet He, Who died thereon, was driven forth in great sorrow and shame, barefoot, and carrying the Cross on His back." Then the king threw himself from his horse, tore off all his clothes, save his shirt, and bore the Holy Cross on his back. Then the gates opened of themselves, and he bore it into the city, where many wonderful signs were done, on the sick, the lame and the blind.
Our Lord said: "If I am lifted up...will draw all men to Me." As St Gregory says: "Man is all things, for he has a likeness with all things." Many men may be found, who find the Cross, and are drawn to it by manifold sufferings and much discipline, that God may thus draw them to Himself; but this suffering must be lifted up; as we to-day celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, so it must not only be found but also lifted up. If man would only examine himself, and commune with his own heart, he would find the Cross twenty times a day in many a painful suggestion and fall, whereby, were he alone, he would be crucified; but he does not lift it up, and thus he wrongs it. All the burdens of the Cross should be lifted up in God, and willingly accepted by man as his Cross, both without and within, in the body and in the spirit. Thus man should be drawn to God, Who desires to draw all things to Himself, as He said when He was about to be lifted up.
Now, men may be found, who outwardly bear this Cross, disciplining themselves well externally, and bearing the burden of their Order. They sing, they read, they go to the choir, or to the refectory; and thus, with the outer man, carry on small services for our Lord. Do you imagine that you were created and made for that only by God? He desires also to have you for His especial Friends. Now such men bear the Cross externally, but they carefully protect themselves from its entrance into themselves, and
seek distraction wherever they can. They do not carry the Cross with our Lord, but with Simon Rufus who was compelled to carry it. But even bearing it thus is very good; for it protects them indeed from many vices and from levity, and it saves them from the terrible fires of purgatory, and possibly from an eternity in hell.
Now, our dear Lord says that He "will draw all things to Himself." He who desires to draw things, must first collect them and then draw them. This our Lord does also; He first gathers up all man's wanderings, the dissipation of his senses, his powers, his words and works, and inwardly, all his thoughts and intentions, his imaginations, his desires and pleasures and his understanding. Then, when all are collected, God draws the man to Himself. For, first of all you must cast off all to which you cling externally and internally in your gratifications. This casting off is a weary Cross, and the heavier and stronger the clinging is, the heavier the Cross will also be. For all the pleasure and delight that you have in the creature, however holy and divine it may appear to be, or is called, or as it may seem to you - all must be cast off, if you desire to be truly lifted up and drawn to God. This is the first and lowest grade in the outer man.
If you desire to raise the Cross in the inner man, it is necessary that all inner delights should be withdrawn from him, all clinging to spiritual pleasures, and even from those which arise out of virtue. The Schoolmen dispute as to whether man should make use of any virtue; it ought to be used fruitfully and only in God's service. These things cannot, indeed, exist without pleasure; but it should be without any addition of self. What do you imagine that pleasure and satisfaction consist of? That a man willingly fasts, watches, prays and carries out the rules of his Order? This pleasure our Lord would have nothing to do with; He desired that I should act rightly towards my Order. Why do you imagine that God seldom allows a day or a night to pass by like the one that preceded it, and that what helped you in meditation yesterday, does not help you at all to-day or to-morrow, and that many imaginations and ideas come to you with no results? Take your Cross from God and suffer, and then it will become a blissful Cross. How could you otherwise carry it to God, and receive it from Him in true resignation, and thank God for it, and say with our dear Lady: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit has
rejoiced in God my Saviour;" for you must thus praise and glorify God in every thing.
Man must always have a Cross; it was necessary that Christ should suffer before He entered into His glory. Whatever you may encounter in your inmost heart, either in seeing or tasting, let it alone, do not meddle with it, ask not what it is, but fall back upon your nothingness. Our Lord said: "If any man will come after Me...let him take up his Cross and follow Me." It is not in comfort, but with the Cross that we must follow God. The Holy Apostle, St Andrew, said: "I welcome you, you much-to-be-desired Cross, for I have longed for you with all my heart. Take me from amongst men, and give me again to my Master." This must not take place one day and not on the next; but it must go on at all times, unceasingly; you must ever be examining yourself in all things. Yes, though the number of your sins and transgressions be great; if you fall seventy times a day, yet turn and come again to God, and pass on so quickly to God that your sin will escape your memory, and when you come to confession you will not be able to say what it was. This should not terrify you; it did not come to pass for your hurt, but to show you your nothingness, and to make you feel contempt for yourself. You should do all calmly, and not dejectedly, if you feel that in your hearts you are ready and prepared to do the Will of God. Man is not sinless, as our dear Lady was, therefore he must be content to bear all this suffering and this Cross. St Paul says: "We know that to them that love God, all things work together to good;" the gloss adds "and sin also." Hold your peace, flee to God, and look upon your nothingness; stay at home, do not run at once to your confessor. St Matthew followed God at once, and leaving all his affairs unsettled; and, if you find that you have sinned, do not make your Cross too heavy outwardly. Leave it to truth, and be faithful and at rest; for none will be condemned except those who wantonly turn to temporal things; while to those who delight in the love of God, and think only of Him, everything will prove a discipline.
Yet, I must warn you in all faithfulness that, if you willingly allow yourselves to be possessed by the creature, and give it room, it will most assuredly cause your condemnation; and, even if God gives you true repentance, though this is uncertain, yet you will have to suffer in the
awful fires of purgatory. If you realised it, you might shrivel up in great fear and anxiety; and if you went thus to receive the Lord's Body, you would be acting just as if you were to take a young and tender child and tread it underfoot in a miry path. And yet this is done to the living Son of God, Who, out of love, has given Himself for us. Thus you go to confession, and do not guard yourselves against the cause of your sin. The Pope with all his Cardinals could not absolve you; for yours is no true repentance, and you are guilty of the Holy Body of our Lord.
Our Lord said: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow Me." This self-denial and this Cross are held before many a Friend of God, who is driven towards it, so that we cannot say how a man ought to forget himself and deny himself in all the circumstances that may arise. That which costs nothing is worthless. "He who sows sparingly, shall also reap sparingly" and "The measure you give will be the measure you get back." but no one should think of this, but solely of God. What will become of all those of whom you might be told, who will not leave their old ways and customs, but who cleave externally to what is real to their senses? you must forsake yourself and die utterly to yourself. He said: "Follow Me." The servant does not go before his master; he follows after him. Not according to the servant's will, but according to the will of the master. No other teaching is necessary for us, if we only take heed how little, in this world, servants can follow their own will; but how they must use all their diligence and all their strength in carrying out in all ways their master's will and service. A grain of wheat must die before it can bring forth fruit, and so must you also die absolutely to your own will. Man ought therefore to give up himself and his own will entirely to God; and, when he thus gives himself from his heart to God, he ought to be as though he possessed no will. A virgin stood in the choir and sang: and said: "Lord, this time is mine and Yours, but, if I commune with my own heart, my time is Yours not mine."
If man is to give himself to God, he must first of all give up his own will entirely, for man is just as though he were formed of three men: his animal nature, in which he is guided by his senses; his powers of reason; and his highest nature, which is in the Image and Likeness of God. In his highest and innermost nature man should turn and lie down in the fire of
the Divine Abyss, and come out of himself, and allow himself to be taken prisoner. He should suppress and pass over the two lowest ways and natures, as St Bernard says: "Man must draw away his animal nature, with the lusts of the flesh, from all the things that he possessed with delight." You know what a hard Cross that is, and how heavy it is! And he says, that it is no less hard for the outer man to enter into the inner man, and to pass, from things that are figurative and visible, to the invisible, that is to their very Source, as St Augustine understands it. All the attacks and the crosses, that, coming to the two lower natures of man, seem to him as though they would draw him away and hinder him from entering, should be taken up by him as his Cross, while he commends all to God. Whether they come from the senses or from reason, he should leave them all alone, and commend them to the lower powers. And he should raise himself above them in the highest power with all his might; just as Abraham left the ass and the servant below, when he went up the mountain to offer his sacrifice to God; he went up alone with his son into the mountain. Therefore, leave your animal nature which is indeed an ass, and your servant, which is natural reason, which is here surely a servant, for it has served, and guide man up the ascent of this mountain; for there he must stay. Leave the two below, and go up alone with the son, that is with your mind, into the secret place, the Holy of Holies. Offer up your sacrifice, and especially offer up yourself, and enter in, and hide there your secret mind in the mystery of the Divine Abyss. As the prophet said in the Psalter: "Lord, you shall hide them in the secret of Your Face." In that secret place the created spirit is brought back again to its uncreatedness, where it had been from everlasting before it was created, and where it recognises itself as God in God, and yet in itself as of the creature, and created. But in God all things are God, who rest on this foundation. Proclus says: "When man once enters here, whatever may befall the outer man, sorrow, poverty or whatever it may be, he heeds it not." As the Prophet says: "you shall hide them...from the disturbance of men." These follow our Lord, as our Lord says elsewhere: "I am in the Father, and He is in Me, and I in you and you in Me." That we may be drawn with all our hearts, as He desired to draw all things after Him, and that we may thus inherit the Cross, that by the Holy Cross we may enter into the true Source, may God help us. Amen.
SERMON XXII; On the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The Third Sermon
Describe a Cross of Spiritual Suffering formed by four virtues. Divine Love is the upper part, Patient Love is on the left side, Inner Purity is on the right, and Willing Obedience forms the lower part. Also much good advice and many instructions for those who look upon themselves as sick and guilty sinners; for the Cross must be borne.
"I was exalted like a cedar in Lebanon, and as a cypress-tree on Mount Sion."
We celebrate to-day the Exaltation of the Holy Cross; but it is impossible to say how it was raised up; neither can we fully describe or imagine its value. We can say of it what we find written in the Book of Ecclesiasticus: "I was exalted like a cedar in Lebanon, and as a cypresstree on Mount Sion."
Frankincense grows on Mount Lebanon; it signifies a spiritual sacrifice, for it should at all times be the desire of our hearts to be peculiar sacrifice to God. The smoke of the cedar tree drives away all the poison of the serpent. Still more the poison of the Devil and all his wicked cunning is chased away by the power of the Holy Cross; that is by the bitter Sorrow and sharp Suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ; for He says of Himself: "I was exalted like a cypress-tree on Mount Sion." The cypress is of such a nature, that if a man partakes of the wood, when unable to retain his food, it enables him to retain it. In the same way, the man who draws to himself the Lord's Holy Cross, and embraces it, namely, His painful and bitter Suffering, will be enabled to retain that most precious and noble Food, the Holy Word of God. The holy saints and prophets have said that the Word of God only becomes fruitful in those men, who at all times draw it earnestly and diligently to themselves, that all things may become fruitful to them. The precious Sufferings of our Lord have also a sweet scent, tasting sweeter than any sweetness; for they draw man's heart to Him; as our Lord Himself has said: "And I, if I be lifted up...will draw all things to Myself." It is indeed true, that the man in whom the
bitter Suffering of our Lord is always found, will at all times be drawn to our Lord, in true humility, and patience, and with fervent and Divine Love. For in the same way that Christ suffered willingly, so must we also at all times, as far as lies in our power, follow after Him earnestly, in patience and suffering, that we may always be imprisoned, bound and condemned with Him in spirit.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, before He was nailed to the Holy Cross, was bereft of all His garments, so that not a thread was left on His Body; and lots were cast for His garments before His eyes. Now, know of a truth, that if you desire ever to come to true perfection, you must be destitute of all that is not of God, so that you have not a thread left; and you must see lots cast for your things before your eyes; while other men look upon it all, and esteem it as mockery, folly and heresy. Our Lord said: "If any man will come after Me, let him...take up his Cross, and follow Me." As he said also to the young man: "If you will be perfect, go sell what you have, and give to the poor...and come, follow Me." For it is written in the Apocalypse that great and unutterable plagues must come, which will be scarcely less terrible than the Judgement Day; though that will not come yet, for we are still living in historic time, days years and hours. And when these plagues which are prophesied, come upon us, those only will recover who bear the Cross. And because this was true, God gave the Angel leave to hurt and to destroy all that was upon the earth. Then God said to the Angel: "you shall spare none, save those who have the banner, the mark, the sign on their foreheads," signifying the Holy Cross. Every man who has not the Cross of Jesus Christ in him and before him, undoubtedly, will not be spared. By the Cross we understand pain. God did not tell the Angel to spare men with great powers, nor the sects, nor those who worked in their own way, but only the suffering. He did not say: "He, who will follow Me, or come after Me, must follow Me, gazing at Me," but he said, "by leaving all and suffering."
Now I wish to say a few words about the Cross. Know then, that every man who takes up the Cross will be made thereby the very best man to be found in these days; and no plagues can harm him. Neither can he ever enter into purgatory. But also there is no greater pain than daily and hourly carrying a Cross on our backs for the sake of God, in humble
resignation. It is, alas! no longer the fashion to suffer for the sake of God, and to bear the Cross for Him; for the diligence and real earnestness, that perchance were found in man, have been extinguished and have grown cold; and now no one is willing any longer to suffer distress for the sake of God. Could we find out any way in which no one would have to suffer, that is what we should choose for our life. Alas! one and all think only of self, in all their works and ways.
It is not outward exercises, such as fasting, watching, lying of hard beds, and making long pilgrimages, that please God. All these things serve thereto; fasting, watching, prayer, and all the other things already mentioned; therefore, do all these things, as far as they will help you to take up your Cross truly. No one is too old, too ill and too deaf to take up the Cross, and to carry it after our Lord Jesus Christ.
Learn that the Holy Cross is made of four pieces of wood, one above, one below, and two in the middle. The upper part is divine, fervent love. The left arm, which is deep humility, is nailed on with the heedlessness of men, and all the things that may befall him then; it is more than scorn, for in that there is a tinge of pride; the other arm of the Cross must be real, true, inner purity, this must be nailed to the Cross with a willing lack of all, whatever it may be, that could defile its purity, either outwardly or inwardly. The feet signify true and perfect obedience; they are nailed on with true and willing resignation of all that you and yours possess. Whatever it may be that you possess, leave all at once for the sake of God, however hard it may be, that you may not possess yourself in any way, either in deed or in word. The four parts of the Cross were fastened together in the middle with fiat voluntas tuna, which means that the pieces of wood were fitted into each other, signifying the true and perfect renunciation of your free will, and a yielding up of all for the sake of God.
Now notice, first, the left hand, which signifies humility. By this we must understand, as St Augustine says, that the man who walks in true humility will most certainly have to suffer. Know, that man must be brought to nothing in his own esteem, and in the eyes of all men. He must also be raised up, bare, and having no resting place, and lots must be cast before his eyes for all that he has or is; as was done with the garments of
our Lord Jesus Christ; that is, you must be mocked, destroyed and spurned. Your life also must be regarded as unworthy of notice, as folly, so that those who are with you or pass you by, will scorn and condemn you, will estimate and judge your life before your face, as full of error and heresy; and hate you and all your works and ways. Now, when you know and see all this, you must neither reject it, nor receive it unthankfully, so that you speak evil, or should say of it: "Such a man as he is unfair to me." Dear friend, guard yourself both outwardly and inwardly against such opposition. you ought to think: "Alas! I, poor man, am unworthy that such a noble man should scorn and ignore me;" and then you should bow to it and look upon it as nothing. Thus you will be bearing the Cross with our Lord. The right hand is true purity; it is nailed on with a willing lack of all things that are not of God, and that could stain that purity. The feet are true obedience, and signify that man should be obedient to his Superiors and the Holy Church. They are nailed on with true resignation, so that man will willingly in all things resign himself to the Will of God. The middle part is the free going out and giving up of your will to the Will of God; which means, however great the suffering may be which is laid upon you by God or man, you will yet willingly suffer all for love of God, and rejoice, and bend willingly to the Cross of suffering, whether guilty or innocent. Now, you might say: "Lord, I cannot do it, I am too weak." Learn then, that you have two wills, an upper and a lower will, as Christ also had two wills. The natural and lower will desires at all times to be freed from the Cross; but the higher says with Christ: "Not as I will but as you will in all things." The top of the Cross is the Love of God; it has no resting place, for at all times it is a pure, bare going forth, forsaken of God and all creatures, so that you can truly say with Christ: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" The Sacred Head of our Lord Jesus Christ had no resting place; if a man experienced Divine Love and a sweet consciousness of God's Presence in his absolute resignation, what would it matter to him though the whole world were against him?
A good and holy man asked our Lord why He allowed His dear Friends to suffer so terribly. Then our Lord said: "Man is naturally inclined to the pleasures of the senses and harmful delights; therefore I hedge him in, in all his ways, so that I alone may be his delight." The Head of Divine, sweet Love hung inclined on the stem of the Holy Cross. Learn, children, it
cannot be otherwise; though we try to turn it as we may, we must always bear a Cross, if we desire to be good men and to come to Eternal Life. We must suffer sharply and keenly, and bear a Cross of some kind, for, if we flee from one, another will fall upon us. No man has ever been born, who was such a good talker that he could prove that this was not true. you can flee where you wilt, and do what you wilt, yet it must be borne. God may take it on His shoulder for a little while, and bear the burden over the most difficult places; and then man feels so light and free, that he cannot believe that he ever had anything to suffer, especially because he feels no suffering; but, as soon as God lays down the burden, the burden of suffering rests heavily on him again, in all its bitterness and insupportability. The Eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, has borne all this before, in the heaviest way possible; and all those who have been His dearest Friends have borne it after Him. This Cross is the fiery chariot in which Elias went up to heaven.
There was a thoughtful daughter of our Order who had longed much and often to see our Lord as a Babe. Suddenly, during her devotions, our Lord appeared to her as a Babe, lying swathed in a bed of sharp thorns, so that she could not get to the Babe till she had laboured much, and had used force, in grasping the thorns. When she came to herself again she realised that those who truly desire Him must boldly face pain, sharpness and suffering.
Some men say: "Yea, and were I so pure and innocent, that I had not deserved it from God on account of my sins, still I would gladly and joyfully bear suffering for the Will of God, so that it might be useful and profitable to me." Now, know, that a guilty and sinful man may suffer, in such a way, that it may be more useful and profitable to him than to an innocent man. But how? In the same way, that a man, who wants to make a great jump, will go back that he may have a good run; for the further he goes back, the further he will jump. Every man should act in this way. He must always look upon himself as sinful and heedless, and must judge of himself as unworthy in the sight of God and of all creatures. Thus he will be drawn nearer and more powerfully to God, and by this means he will get closer to the Eternal Goodness of Divine Truth.
Children, the more thoroughly a man knows himself from the bottom of his heart, truly despising and condemning himself, not glossing over his sins, but deeming himself utterly unworthy, the nearer will he draw to God in truth, and the more perfect will be his converse with God.
That we may all draw this precious Cross of our Lord after us, in steadfast patience and with loving hearts, with happy countenances, cheerfully, joyfully and willingly suffering all things for God, giving up all things for Him, and accepting all things that are disagreeable to us as from the open, loving Hand of God and not from the creature; that we may be lifted up in our hearts in steadfast patience even to the end, may He help us, Who for our sakes was lifted up upon the Cross that He might draw all things to Himself. Amen.
SERMON XXIII; On the Feast of St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
Of two ways in which man may follow after God in true resignation. One way is in a figure; the other has no form; it consists of a calm, inner silence in a tranquil mind.
"Follow me." Our Lord spoke to St Matthew saying: "Follow Me." And he rose up, and forsook all, and followed Him.
This holy Matthew has become an example to all men; and yet he was, to begin with, a great sinner, as the Scripture tells us; but afterwards he became one of the greatest Friends of God; for, when our Lord spoke secretly to him in his heart, he left all things and followed Him. Everything depends upon man's following God in truth; and this involves an absolute forsaking of all things, whatever they may be, which have taken possession of man's heart, and which are not of God. For God is a Lover of hearts, and communes not with anything that is external. He desires an inner, living, love, which is ever ready to turn to all things that are divine and virtuous, where and in whomsoever they may be found; for there is more truth in such an once than in a man who prays as much as all the rest of the world, and sings so lustily that his song reaches to heaven; or in anything that he can do by fasting, watching, or anything else externally.
Now our Lord said: "Follow Me." There are six ways in which men can follow our Lord; three are in our lower, and three in our higher powers. In the lower there are humility, gentleness and patience. The other three are higher than all other powers; they are faith, hope and love. Our Lord said: "Follow." This following, in one way, is to be, after the example of our Lord, in praise and thanksgiving; while sometimes it comes to pass in a still closer way; that is, without any conditions of thought or of anything else, but only in an inner silence, in a mind that communes with itself, simply waiting on God, that He may work in it as it pleases Him.
It is easy to find men who get on well with their outward exercises. They glide through them, whether these be fasting, watching, prayer or anything else; and they take so much delight in them, that God has a very small part in them. The pleasure sometimes seems to be so great that God is not there at all, and has turned away; which means, that such men do their work as of themselves, adding thereto, and finding pleasure therein; though all good is of God, and not a shred belongs to man.
Now, we might ask: "How can we separate pleasure from what is good? Let us take an example. In the Old Testament the priests were forbidden to eat the fat of the sacrifices; they were to burn it and offer all to God. But they might eat the fat of the flesh which was their allotted portion. Thus all the delight that we have in all the exercise of virtue and in works must be cast into the fire of love, from whence it proceeds. But the natural pleasure or satisfaction which clings to natural actions, in as far as they are good, may be engaged by man in a simple way, if he does not add thereto.
Now, we must notice in these words: "Follow Me," that St Matthew left all things and followed God. Man, when he leaves all things and himself in all things, must follow God more than all; in the outer man, in all exercises of virtue, in universal love; and, in the inner man, by real resignation of himself in all ways, both outwardly and inwardly. Now, understand that when I speak of myself, I am speaking of all men. By God's Grace and from Holy Christendom, I have received both my order and my cowl, this habit and my priesthood, that I might become a teacher
and hear confessions. Now, if it came to pass that the Pope and also the Holy Church, from whom I have received them, wished to take them all away from me, if I were a temperate man, I should let them go, and I should not ask why they did so. If I might, I should put on a gray garb, and I should not remain any longer in the monastery with the brethren, nor be a priest and hear confessions and preach. I should also say that in God's name all was at an end; for they gave all to me, and may therefore take all from me. Why, it would not be for me to ask. Why? because I do not wish to be called a heretic, or to be excommunicated; and thus I should be truly resigned. But if any one else wanted to take these things from me, I would rather die than allow them to be taken from me.
Again, if the Holy Church were to refuse us the Holy Sacrament externally, we must submit; but in a spiritual sense no one can take it from us. We must be ready to give up all without murmuring or answering again; but all this is external. Thus it ought to be, and even still more so in things that are within. What do we have that was not given us by God? Therefore, all that He gave us must be given to Him again; we must give up all in true resignation, as though we had never obtained it.
You, dear children, who occupy yourselves with sacred pictures, holy thoughts, and works and ways, are not referred to here. I am not speaking to you; you need not take this address to yourselves. But I mean those especially who have to go along the dark road, and to pass through the narrow way, which is not the road for all men. These men must take a very different road from those of whom we have just spoken; and we will now speak of them; of what things they must have, and how some things are to be done and others left undone. Man should have all these things in his powers, without anything of self and beyond all powers; and he must posses them without any qualifications. Now, it is according to man's nature to desire to have, to know and to will. These are all the works of men's powers. Now, there are six things of which we must now take note. There are three in the lower, and three in the higher powers. In the lower, are humility, gentleness and patience, which answer to these three. Humility sinks at once and for ever into an abyss, and loses its name and rests in absolute nothingness, and knows nothing but humility. Gentleness has robbed love of the qualification of will; so that all things
are alike, nothing is antagonistic; therefore there is no consciousness of any virtue, and all things are possessed in an even peace; virtue has lost its name and has become simply a condition. So also is it with patience. These men love and thirst after suffering and know nothing of patience.
Now, after all this resignation, it may happen that a hard word is spoken to you; but do not let it affright you; God has decreed it for your good, that you may sink yet deeper into your nothingness. Then anger arises, and points to still greater renunciation, and shows you your nothingness, that you may even think yourself unworthy that God should implant in you one good thought. Everything depends upon this; a fathomless sinking in a fathomless nothingness. The doings of these men do not depend upon external works, or customs, or pictures; but, if they do well, their existence will be blessed beyond all measure; but in its way it is as full of care as that of the most savage men on earth. For this way is a dark way; and, as I said of Job: "A man whose way is hidden, and God has surrounded him with darkness." Man must bear all the reproaches heaped upon him on this rough road, in a self-denying way; even all the reproaches that can be imagined. Our Lord says everywhere: "Follow Me, go through all things. I am He; go not further; follow Me." If a man were to say: "Lord, who are You, that I must follow You through such deep, gloomy, miserable paths?" The Lord would reply, "I am God and Man, and far more God." If a man could answer then, really and consciously from the bottom of his heart: "Then I am nothing, and less than nothing;" all would be accomplished; for the Godhead has really no place to work in, but ground where all has been annihilated. As the Schoolmen say, when a new form is to come into existence, the old must of necessity be destroyed. They say: "When a child is conceived in the mother's womb, it is at first simply matter; later it takes an animal form; it lives as an animal; and then, at the appointed time, God creates a reasoning soul and casts it into the matter." Then the first form disappears in blessedness; what is created, form, size and colour must all disappear, so that nothing is left save simple matter. And so I say: "If man is to be thus clothed upon with this being; all the forms must of necessity be done away, that were ever received by him in all his powers - of perception, knowledge, will, work, of subjection, sensibility and self-seeking." When St Paul saw nothing, he saw God. So also, when Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle,